Editing Songkran (Thailand) (section)

== Practices ==

The Songkran celebration is rich with symbolic traditions. Mornings begin with [[Merit (Buddhism)|merit-making]]. Visiting local temples and offering food to the Buddhist monks is commonly practiced. On this specific occasion, performing water pouring on Buddha statues and the young and elderly is a traditional ritual, representing purification and the washing away of one's sins and bad luck.<ref name=":0"/> As a festival of unity, people who have moved away usually return home to their loved ones and elders. Paying reverence to ancestors is an important part of Songkran tradition.

The holiday is known for its [[Water Festival]]. Major streets are closed to traffic, and are used as arenas for water fights. Celebrants, young and old, participate in this tradition by splashing water on each other. Traditional parades are held and in some venues "Lady Songkran" or "Miss Songkran" is crowned,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chadchaidee|first1=Thanapol|title=Essays on Thailand|date=1994|publisher=D.K. Today Co., Ltd.|isbn=974-834-824-5}}</ref> where contestants are clothed in traditional Thai dress.  For the general public, floral shirt or [[Hawaiian shirt]] is a popular clothing item worn during this festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/floral-shirts-hot-again-for-songkran-festival-week-429325|title=Floral shirts hot again for Songkran festival week|date=18 April 2023|access-date=15 April 2024|first=Warapun|last= Jaikusol|work=Pattaya Mail}}</ref>

In 2024, [[UNESCO]] certified Songkran as part of humanity's [[Intangible Cultural Heritage List|intangible cultural heritage list]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Songkran in Thailand, traditional Thai New Year festival |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/songkran-in-thailand-traditional-thai-new-year-festival-01719 |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=ich.unesco.org |language=en}}</ref> 

=== Regional practices ===

In Central region, people clean their houses when Songkran approaches. All dress up in colorful clothing or Thai dress. After offering food to the monks, people will offer a requiem to their ancestors. People make merit offerings such as giving sand to the temple for construction or repair. Other forms of merit include releasing birds and fish. Nowadays, people also release other kinds of animals such as buffaloes and cows. [[Phra Pradaeng]] hosts traditional ceremonies of [[Mon people]] such as parades in the colourful traditional outfits and folklore performances.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://rove.me/to/thailand/songkran | title= Songkran | date= 2 November 2022 | publisher=rove.me}}</ref>

Ban Hat Siew in [[Si Satchanalai District]] hosts the 'Elephant Procession Ordination' event on 7 April, where a colourful parade where men dressed in the traditional clothes are taken to the temples on elephants.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tatnews.org/2018/04/thailand-grand-songkran-celebrations-2018/ | title=Thailand Grand Songkran Celebrations  | date=4 April 2018 | publisher=Tourism Authority of Thailand}}</ref> In northern Thailand 13 April is celebrated with gunfire or firecrackers to repel bad luck. On the next day, people prepare food and useful things to offer to the monks at the temple. People have to go to temple to make merit and bathe Buddha's statue and after that they pour water on the hands of elders and ask for their blessings.

In [[Bangkok]], [[Khao San Road]] and [[Silom Road]] with [[Siam Square]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.novotelbkk.com/bangkok-hotel/songkran-in-siam-square/|title=SONGKRAN IN SIAM SQUARE|work=Novotel|date=15 April 2015}}</ref> are the hubs for modern celebration of Songkran. The roads are closed for traffic, and posts equipped with water guns and buckets full of water. The party runs day and night.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2139071/songkran-everything-you-need-know-about-thailands-famous | title=Songkran, everything you need to know about Thailand's famous new year water fight | newspaper=South China Morning Post}}</ref>

{{Blockquote
|text=At the festival of Songkran, which marks the beginning of the old Siamese solar year, it is the custom to bathe the images of the Buddha and also the monks and old people. The young folk make this an occasion for throwing water over each other amidst much fun and laughter.<ref>Thompson, Peter A. (1906). ''Lotus Land: Being an Account of the Country and the People of Southern Siam''. London: T. Werner Laurie. 312 pp.</ref>{{rp|125}}<ref>Thompson, Peter A. (1910). "The Brotherhood of the Yellow Robe", ''Siam: An Account of the Country and the People, Vol 16''. Boston, MA: J. B. Millet Company. 330 pp.</ref>{{rp|133}}
|author=Peter Anthony Thompson B.A., A.M., I.C.E., Late of [[Royal Thai Survey Department|The Royal Survey Department, Siam.]]
|source=Lotus Land: Being an Account of the Country and the People of Southern Siam, July 1906.
}}

<gallery>
File:Ban_Khung_Taphao02.jpg|Buddhist takes a bath ancestor pagoda in Songkran festival, [[Uttaradit]].
File:Songkran Day @ Chiangmai Wall.jpg|Songkran festival, [[Chiang Mai]]'s ancient city wall
File:Pak Khat, Pak Khat District, Bueng Kan 38220, Thailand - panoramio (1).jpg|Dancers in [[Isan]] traditional dress during Songkran festival, [[Bueng Kan]]
File:Songkran in Wat Kungthapao 05.jpg|Monks receiving blessing at a temple in [[Ban Khung Taphao]]
File:Songkran 012.jpg|Water fights along the west moat, [[Chiang Mai]], Thailand
File:Songkran at Wat Thai in Los Angeles, April 2008.JPG|Songkran at Wat Thai, [[Los Angeles]]
File:2016 Songkran-temple-sand IMG 4320.jpg|Songkran symbolic [[sand pagoda]]s in temple, Wat Phu Khao Thong, Ban Maenam, Koh Samui
File:เทศกาลสงกรานต์กรุงเทพมหานคร 2562 Photographed by Peak Hora (27).jpg|Group of Thai traditional dancer in Songkran festival, [[Bangkok]]
File:เทศกาลสงกรานต์กรุงเทพมหานคร 2562 Photographed by Peak Hora (12).jpg|Lady Songkran parade at Songkran festival, Bangkok
File:เทศกาลสงกรานต์กรุงเทพมหานคร 2562 Photographed by Peak Hora (15).jpg|Lady Songkran parade at Songkran festival, Bangkok
14 April 2025 - Songkran on Si Lom Road, Bangkok - img 08.jpg|[[Si Lom Road]] closure for water fight during Songkran in 2025 
</gallery>

=== Elsewhere ===
{{Refimprove|section|date=April 2022}}
Songkran is celebrated by the Malaysian Siamese community, particularly in the states of [[Kedah]], Kelantan, [[Penang]], Perak, [[Perlis]] and [[Terengganu]] where most Siamese are located.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lee|first1=Edmund|title=Five million Malaysians celebrate Songkran and Good Friday|url=http://www.thesundaily.my/news/2017/04/13/five-million-malaysians-celebrate-songkran-and-good-friday|access-date=14 April 2018|work=The Sun Daily|date=13 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=Nor Ain Mohd Radhi|title=Najib wishes Happy Songkran to Malaysian Siamese|url=https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/04/356527/najib-wishes-happy-songkran-malaysian-siamese|access-date=14 April 2018|work=New Straits Times|date=12 April 2018}}</ref>

The festival is celebrated as [[Sangken]] in northeastern areas of India and as [[Bizu]], Boisuk, Shangrai, and Boisabi in the [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]] of Bangladesh, which is the traditional New Year's Day by the indigenous Hindu people and Buddhist community. The Sangken festival is celebrated by the Tai people — [[Khamti people]] [[Khamyang people|Khamyang]], [[Tai Phake people|Phake]] and [[Turung people|Turung]] people.  The festival is also celebrated by [[Singpho people|Singpho]], Tikhak (Tangsa) and Duoniya people. Sangken generally falls in the month of 'Naun Ha', the fifth month of the year of the Tai [[Lunar calendar]] coinciding with the month of April. It is celebrated in the last days of the old year and the lunar new year begins on the day just after the end of the festival.

In [[Japan]], Songkran festival observance held along with the Hot Spring festival, ''Beppu Hatto Onsen Matsuri'', in [[Beppu]] city, [[Ōita Prefecture]], called ''Beppu Songkran Festival'',<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20240420081923/https://image.mfa.go.th/mfa/0/YLjhuT4Hho/PR2023/%E0%B8%82%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%98%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%89%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%88_23_%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%B5_2566.pdf Public relations news of Beppu Songkran Festival (PR No. 23/2566)]. ''Royal Thai Consulate General Fukuoka''. (29 March 2023). Retrieved on 20 April 2024.</ref> not only water-splashing observance but also Thai cultural fanfares occurred, and also held at the world's wettest music festival, ''S2O Japan Songkran Music Festival''.<ref>Shobunsha Publications. (2019). ''Mappuru shutoken-hatsu 《まっぷる 首都圏発》 [Mapple from the metropolitan area]''. Tokyo: Shobunsha. p 121. {{ISBN|978-439-8-28865-3}}</ref> It's combination of Thai-Japan culture and depiction of long time relation of each other.

Songkran is celebrated annually on the U.S. territory of [[Wake Island]] by Air Force members and American and Thai contractors,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jber.jb.mil/News/News-Articles/Article/1157218/air-force-members-celebrate-thai-new-year-and-water-festival-at-wake-island/|title=Air Force members celebrate Thai New Year and Water Festival at Wake Island |author=Captain Anastasia Schmidt |publisher=11th Air Force Public Affairs |date=19 April 2017 |website=Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson |access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref> including [[New York State]] for commemorating the Asian American community's celebration of Songkran on April as an important cultural event on the state according to Assembly Resolution No. 1059.<ref>"[https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/K1059 Commemorating the Asian American community's celebration of Songkran on April]". Assembly Resolution No. 1059. (2023-K1059). ''The New York State Senate''. Retrieved on 19 April 2024.
* [https://www.thaipbsworld.com/new-york-officially-recognises-songkran-as-an-important-cultural-event/ New York officially recognises Songkran as an important cultural event]. ''ThaiPBS Worlds''. (April 19, 2024). Retrieved on 19 April 2024.
* Abhasakun, T. (2023, 16 April). [https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/songkran/new-york-state-celebrates-songkran New York State celebrates Songkran]. ''TheThaiger''. 16 April 2023. Retrieved on 20 April 2024. "The state of New York in the US officially celebrated Songkran this year. New York State Representative Steven Raga proposed a bill to celebrate the Thai Songkran festival, the Thai Post reported."</ref>